Take 5 Checklist for Improved Safety Awareness

A Take 5 checklist is a tool required for personal safety planning. It helps those working on external worksites to go about their tasks without any injury risks involved.

It is also the responsibility of job supervisors to follow the Safety Take 5 checklist and communicate the process to all employees. They follow the checklist religiously during a full day’s activities, and this guides users to recognize changing conditions or circumstances during any ongoing job. The checklist also enables users to be aware of their immediate working environment at all times while aiding them to identify and control immediate hazards during daily work. These immediate hazards include:

• Inappropriate or worn out tools
• Worn out, damaged or even obsolete PPE
• Risks for tripping, slipping or falling
• Poor housekeeping
• Sharp objects that may protrude or drop suddenly
• Damaged and worn out electrical wires or cables
• Equipment that is yet to be tested
• Inadequate height safety precautions
• Stiff or jammed valves

The list is also used for the following purposes:

• The checklist enables users to scan their working environment and identify objects or tools that may hurt workers in any job.
• Investigate hazards such as problems in machineries and other assorted protrusions.
• It becomes easier to identify any hazard to either control it or to avoid it altogether.
• The list also enables a job participant to keep monitoring even while still on the job and identify deviations taking place against set standards.
• The checklist also reminds its user that complacency about on-the-job safety measures is to be avoided strictly. Should one begin to falter on it, he needs to take a break and look around his surroundings, refocus and then continue with his work.

Overall, the checklist talks about the importance of safety at work. It focuses on teaching users to be alert at all times to prevent any injuries, be it a minor one or a major one. This process helps in substantially increasing productivity and reducing loss of work time. This is also applicable to all manufacturing industries across the world.